SEIU lies to home-based caregivers to stymie flow of opt-outs

SEIU officials are telling caregivers they will lose all benefits, including health insurance and the Medicaid stipend that helps them care for their loved ones, should they opt out of paying union dues, according to training attendees.

Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, leaders are using misinformation to re-enroll home-based caregivers who may opt out of paying union dues.

The SEIU is currently leading mandatory “training” sessions across Illinois for home-based caregivers. But these trainings largely serve as taxpayer-funded union membership drives, and were only initiated in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Harris v. Quinn, which freed these caregivers from forced dues to the union.

SEIU officials are telling caregivers they will lose all benefits, including health insurance and the Medicaid stipend that helps them care for their loved ones, should they opt out of paying union dues, according to training attendees.

Illinois Policy staff members have been present outside 29 of the state’s mandatory, SEIU-led training sessions, meeting over 1,000 caregivers. Of those, 100 have signed an opt-out form on the spot. Others are understandably more cautious, willing to listen to our message and expressing desire to call our information hotline at a later date.

In both cases, however, the reaction of surprise and relief upon hearing that they do have options is exhilarating. These caregivers, after hearing only the misleading information provided by the SEIU, often thank us for our message. The $20-$50 more in their paychecks is money that can be used to pay for prescription medicine, a tank of gas to get to therapy sessions or one more bag of groceries.

The SEIU is showing their desperation on many levels. SEIU staff often confront us while we hand out literature at the training sites, attempting to intimidate us verbally and physically. They now know that using police officers will assist them in blocking our First Amendment rights to distribute our literature within state-owned buildings, as Illinois Policy staffers have been threatened with arrest in Rockford, Joliet and Chicago. When there is no police to do their dirty work, SEIU staff simply intimidate the caregivers we speak with, pulling our papers out of their hands while escorting them inside.

Caregivers need to know their rights. But the SEIU has no interest in divulging that information, and will seemingly stop at nothing to preserve their dues revenue. Illinois Policy will continue efforts to educate all of these caregivers going forward.